Secrets of Arlington Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery. Its history is rooted in the days preceding the American Civil War. The first soldier was buried in Arlington Cemetery in May 1864.

By the end of the war around Arlington Hausa, there were already 16,000 graves.

But if after the Civil War buried in Arlington Cemetery only local poor people, now it has become a place of honor burial of veterans and their families.

Who is buried

At Arlington Cemetery, located near the center of Washington - across the bridge - in Virginia, is its streets and alleys. Here are buried more than 200 thousand veterans of various wars involving the United States. If we assume that the nearest family members who also are permitted to be buried at Arlington Cemetery, the population of this "city of the dead - more than 300 thousand people.

And every weekday held here before the 1930 funeral.

In the land of Arlington may be buried, only those who died during the war, has 20 years of military experience or certain military awards, as well as their spouses and family members.

Retired veterans and their families also are eligible for burial in Arlington columbarium.

Cemetery scandals

However, despite clear rules established by Congress in conjunction with the army leadership, from time to time among the relatives of deceased military scandals emerge. They think that their deceased deserve to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and the rules go, no.

Worse, when buried by mistake in someone else's grave. Such incidents are the most prestigious military cemetery in the U.S. occur with alarming regularity. Over the last year from the pages of the American press to the leadership of the cemetery more than once is plenty of blame to poor management.

As a result of these scandals in the past year was a change of leadership. The representative of the Arlington cemetery, Jennifer Lynch assures me that with the advent of new managers, much has changed.

"We give the Arlington Cemetery in order. The new rulers - experienced managers, much has been done, including in order to not confuse the grave - says Lynch. - Now we are in a census of all the graves to take pictures of all tombstones on both sides , digitizes the information, and in the near future there will be an application for iPhone with a complete map of all the graves of Arlington. "

Rosary General Lee

Once in place was a garden of graves and the name of General Lee. Before the outbreak of the Civil War, President Lincoln offered Robert E. Lee to lead federal troops: Lee was a supporter of saving the Union and opposed slavery. But Lee could not fight against his native Virginia - and led the troops of the state.

"Unionists needed a place to bury its soldiers, but in Washington there was no free space - says Jennifer Lynch. - And as if in retaliation, General Lee, Brigadier General Montgomery Meigs Unionists urged the federal government to allocate 200 acres of land whether to put a cemetery."

"Meigs ordered burials near the house to make that after the war, his former inhabitants have been unable to return it. The soldier was buried directly in the rose garden, a broken front of the house" - she adds.

Former rosary General Lee became the last refuge for many senators, including the brothers Robert and Evdvarda Kennedy, for astronauts, musicians and writers.

Buried here, and two U.S. president - Kennedy and Taft. At the tomb of John Kennedy's eternal flame burns. His tomb - a modest black plate engraved with the name and years of birth and death. Nearby lies his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy and two children died at an early age.

The area of ??the cemetery - almost 3 square kilometers. Employees and visitors prefer to travel on it at the special vans. But the two main attractions of the cemetery - the grave of President John F. Kennedy and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - usually on foot.

Every half hour during the summer and every hour during the winter at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a changing of the guard. This ceremony has not changed since 1921, since the body is buried an unknown soldier killed during the First World War.

A stone tomb with the body of an unidentified soldier - is the visible part of the memorial, while under the slabs adjacent to the tomb, are buried in unknown American soldiers who died during World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars. Each year on Memorial Day and Veterans Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier lay a wreath from the president of the United States.

An American in the Red Army

Here I found the grave of World War II veteran Joseph Byerley, father of the current U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Byerly. Byerly, Sr. called the only American military, which during the Second World managed to war in the ranks of the American army, the army of the Red.

In the year 50 years after the Second World War, Joseph Byerly received two awards - the U.S. and Russia - personally from Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin. Thus, the then president of the two countries have recognized his contributions both to the American army, and before the Soviets.

In Washington journalist Peter Cheremushkin personally knew Joseph Byerly: They met in 2004 in Moscow. "He spoke of himself as commandos, parachutists, who were thrown from the territory of England to France, so he gave money to the French underground," - says Cheremushkin.

During one such flight landed Byerly failed, falling on the roof of the church in a small French town, and fell into German captivity, and then - in a concentration camp.

"He made three or four shoots, the last of them to succeed, and he managed to get to the front line and move it - says Cheremushkin. - So he got into the Red Army. Recalling those days, he often said:" Keep in mind, Russian at night, do not fight - they drink vodka and sing songs. "

Byerly was in a tank battalion, which mainly consisted of women. As a result of various inspections, Red believed Sergeant Byerly and began taking him on military assignments. Basically, according to his story, he was engaged in subversive activities. After one of these attacks an American hit with a concussion in a Soviet hospital, where, according to him, met Marshal Zhukov.

"The credibility of this story hard to believe, but what happened next proves that, in general, then this could be true - laughs Peter Cheremushkin. - Zhukov as telling me Byerly, asked how he could help him. And Byerly asked give him a paper with which he could return home. Soon he got a paper. "

With this document, Byerly was in Moscow, where the U.S. embassy staff have long held it is virtually under house arrest, but finally sent in his native Michigan. "There he was greeted with surprise: it is said, we've already paid $ 10 for your upokoynuyu service, and to dust you came not, - says Peter Cheremushkin. - Then he worked as a freight forwarder and lectured on the history of my life."

After the war Joseph Byerly has repeatedly visited the Soviet Union, and later to Russia, trying to find someone of his colleagues from the Red Army. "He sought them, and through magazines, and through a committee of veterans, but he failed to find anyone," - said the journalist Cheremushkin.

Story of an American sergeant Joseph Byerly - one of the thousands of legendary life stories of those buried in the most revered in the U.S. military cemetery.

In March, the Arlington Cemetery funeral of another man, the legend - Frank Buckles, the last American veteran of World War I and World War II, who died February 27 at the age of 110.

At least until 2060 Arlington Cemetery, said his staff will continue to remain "alive" - ??up to 30 funerals a day. After that, if will have nowhere to expand, the legendary cemetery becomes a monument to himself.